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DEPARTMENT OF CELL BIOLOGY & MOLECULAR GENETICS
DIVERSITY NEWS
SEPTEMBER 2022 |
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MESSAGE FROM OUR CHAIRI want to welcome everyone to the start of the fall semester and the beginning of a new academic year! We are now at a hopeful yet cautiously optimistic stage of the pandemic where we can envision working and socializing in person more than at any time over the last several years. Given this opportunity, I really look forward to seeing each of you and getting together as a departmental community as much as possible in the coming year. This will allow us to make up for lost time, but importantly to learn about each other and to share our unique stories and experiences. As your chair, one of my major goals is to support efforts to enhance the diversity, equity and inclusion amongst all of our faculty, staff, and students, with a focus on hiring, retention, and communal support. My philosophy is based on an inherent appreciation and respect for the contributions of all members of the department. Basically, our strength comes from the sum of all our parts….and that is each of you. The DEI committee has been instrumental in moving this vision forward, through identifying areas of need, addressing awareness, organizing social events that bring us together as a community, and of course the new CBMG Newsletter of which this is the second edition. We thrive when we work as an integrated unit with a common goal and it is my job as chair to provide the best environment and resources to make this happen. Enjoy the newsletter and I hope to see everyone at the Back to School event on Sept. 16th! Kevin S. McIver | Professor and Chair, CBMG |
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FEATURE |
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PERSONAL STORIES |
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 | Edgar Moctezuma (Senior Lecturer, DEI Committee Member)Edgar Moctezuma is a Senior Lecturer who began teaching at UMD in 2003. READ MORE >> |
|  | Aurelie Niyongabo (MOCB/BISI Graduate Student, DEI Commitee Member)Aurelie Niyongabo is a MOCB/BISI graduate student in the Ofek lab. READ MORE >> |
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 | Zhongchi Liu (Professor)Zhongchi Liu is a Professor who began teaching at CBMG in 1995. READ MORE >> |
|  | Dirk Joldersma (PhD Student, Liu Lab) Dirk Joldersma is a Ph.D. Candidate in Dr. Zhongchi Liu's lab. READ MORE >> |
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FACULTY & RESEARCH |
| Study reveals new clues about land plants’ closest algal relativeNow out in Current Biology: Dr. Delwiche contributes to analysis of an enigmatic species of algae, helping to bridge the evolutionary gap between land and marine organisms. Read More >> |
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| Mechanization of fertilization-induced auxin synthesis in the endosperm for seed and fruit development.Extreme heat from climate change kills both pollinators and pollen. In a new study published in Nature Communications, Dr. Zhongchi Liu and her lab identity mechanism responsible for fruit and seed development in flowering plants and may have found a way to bypass the pollination process altogether. Read More >> |
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| Benchmarking AlphaFold for protein complex modeling reveals accuracy determinantsNow out in Protein|Society: Rui Yin (Pierce Lab), along with Computer Sciences’ Brandon Feng and Amitabh Varshney, use the recently developed deep learning method, AlphaFold, to predict structures of protein complexes from sequence. Read More >> |
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| Inventions of the Year: UMD Researchers Develop FANA Aptamers to Prevent SARS-CoV-2 InfectionDr.DeStefano and postdoctoral associate Irani Alves Ferreira-Brav were inspired to use their lab’s knowledge of aptamers to expand and improve upon existing therapeutics for COVID-19. Their developments in fluoro-arabino nucleic acid (FANA) aptamers could help prevent initial infection with SARS-CoV-2. Read More >> |
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AWARDS |
| Caren Chang named 2022-23 Distinguished Scholar-TeacherEstablished in 1978, the DST Program honors faculty members who have demonstrated notable success in both scholarship and teaching. Recipients receive an honorarium of $5,000 to support their research and mentoring activities. Dr. Chang will give a public lecture on a topic within their scholarly discipline during the fall semester. Read More >> |
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| CBMG celebrates the following staff in Years of Service at UMD:Pamela Moffett - 25 Years in Service; Mini Rajan - 20 Years in Service; Errica Philpott-Barber - 10 Years in Service. Congratulations to all! |
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CBMG EVENTS |
| CBMG Back to School Event - Fall 2022 |
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| CBMG Seminar by Dr. Margaret Scull (UMD - CBMG) |
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| CBMG Seminar by Dr. Brian Pierce (UMD - CBMG/IBBR)Hosted by: Dr. Anne Simon, Location: TBD |
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| CBMG Seminar by Dr. Abhyudai Singh (University of Delaware)Hosted by: Dr. Lanny Ling, Location: TBD |
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| CBMG Seminar by Dr. Cheryl Kerfeld (Michigan State University)Hosted by: Dr. Wade Winkler, Location: TBD |
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| CBMG Seminar by Dr. Timothy Yahr (Iowa State University)Hosted by: Dr. Vincent Lee, Location: TBD |
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| Distinguished Scholar-Teacher Lecture Series: Dr. Caren Chang |
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BIAS INCIDENTS |
The following bias incident was reported to the Office of Diversity and Inclusion Bias Incident Support Services (BISS) since the last newsletter: One graffito in BRB, reported in July. |
You can monitor the campus climate for yourself at BISS Dashboard. To learn more about BISS visit their webpage or watch their introductory video. Remember, to report a bias incident, you may email biassupport@umd.edu or submit a report online. You may make a report anonymously, or if you prefer you can ask any member of the DEI committee (or any other member of the campus community) to make the report on your behalf. If you see a graffito, it is best not to try to remove it yourself, but to cover it up and contact BISS. If you are comfortable doing so, you can upload a photo of the graffito as a part of the report. |
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WE’D LOVE TO HEAR FROM YOU! |
We are also interested in hearing about YOUR DEI activities. If you have supported, led, or hosted an event, program, or research that promotes diversity, equity, and/or inclusion within science, our classrooms, or the community, please complete this form so that the DEI Committee can be informed of your efforts! |
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We are grateful to alumni and friends whose generosity supports current and future students. To learn more about how you can make a difference, please visit go.umd.edu/cbmggiving. |
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The CBMG Diversity Newsletter is prepared by Priyanka Vengataraman; the Personal Stories feature is developed and edited by Erin Tran. Current DEI Committee members: Caren Chang (co-chair), Chuck Delwiche (co-chair), Grace Igbinosun, Edgar Moctezuma, Aurelie Niyongabo, Errica Philpott, Teresa Thompson |
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